Solo leveling vol 2 by Chugong

Jinwoo is still dealing with the trauma from the last double-dungeon, but he decides he needs to get stronger so he can earn more and help out his family. He starts grinding in a low-level dungeon and puts a majority of his skill points into strength. This changes his physical appearance - he’s taller and has more muscle mass. He decides it’s time to try a harder dungeon, and he finds a group who need to round out their numbers to 10 to enter. There’s another new person, who is also low level, but he has extremely expensive equipment. Things turn out badly for the two of them in the dungeon, and Jinwoo uses all his new experience to protect them and survive the dungeon.

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This is very serious in tone compared to a lot of the other rpg type stories I’ve read. While Jinwoo grinds and levels up through the basic dungeons, he also relives several flashbacks to the dungeon in the first volume. The basic premise of the series, though, was about how weak Jinwoo is supposed to be, but we see him really abandon that persona in this volume. He outwardly pretends to be weak still, but his skill level and perception of human behavior is well advanced. There wasn’t really a lot of time to explore the new character who seems like he is going to stick to Jinwoo like glue, so hopefully we get more development of him in the next volume as we have gotten more of Jinwoo in the first two.

Sara’s Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1

Publisher: Yen Press
Publication Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 9781975319458​ (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 9/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Action Adventure, Magic